Love Saves Lives
by Ms. Plush
Summary: Four couples are torn apart by stubborness and pride. Is there any hope for them to be saved? side oneshot to my Naruto series, cowritten with MitsukiUmisako, SasuukeAkzakura, and xxstripes based on "How to Save a Life" by The Fray OCOC NaruOC SasuOC


Hey everyone~! This is a mini project I came up with and my friends Mit-chan, Kat-chan, and Hime-wan helped me put together. As I said in the summary, it's a oneshot based off the song "How to Save a Life" by The Fray. Each of us wrote our own part to the oneshot and contributed a ficlet about our OCs expiriences when they are forced to confront the ones that they care about the most.

I had to add in a verse so that Hime-wan could be a part of the story (I couldn't just leave her out, now could I). The italicized verse is the one that I added in which is why it sucks so much more than he rest of the song. The first part, the italicized verse, and the unerlined part at the end were written by me.

My part is about two of my OCs, Akina Yamoshi and Kyou Miyagi, from my Naruto fanfic, "Vanilla."  
The second part was written by my ubrely awesome friend, Mit-chan (MitsukiUmisako), and is about Naruto and her OC, Mitsuki Umisako, from her Naruto fanfic, "Hunted is an Understatement."  
The third part was written by the sweetest girl I know and fellow yaoi fanatic, Kat-chan (SasuukeAkzakura), and is about Sasuke and her OC, Katon Kajiki, from her Naruto fanfic, "Twilight: SasuKato style."  
The fourth part was written by my favourite(---ZOMG what is that "u" doing there??) little British girl and totally awesome grammar!nazi, Hime-wan (xxstrpes), and is about her OCs, Himeko Aokawa and Takahiro (what is his last name?? TT^TT), from her Naruto fanfic, "Memoirs."

**Disclaimer: Even though Plush, Mit-chan, Kat-chan, and Hime-wan dream about owning the Naruto characters and having them tied up in a closet where they would be kept as pets, the anime, Naruto," and all of it's characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Also, the song, "How to Save a Life," is owned by The Fray, and The Fray is owned by Plush and Hime-wan (NOT REALLY! TT^TT)**

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**Step one you say we need to talk  
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk  
He smiles politely back at you  
You stare politely right on through  
Some sort of window to your right  
As he goes left and you stay right  
Between the lines of fear and blame  
You begin to wonder why you came**

Akina walked calmly along a dirt path. Well, it was more of a mud path thanks to the rain. She didn't mind though. Under different circumstances she would have returned home and mercilessly scrubbed her dirty shoes until every little bit of mud was gone, but she couldn't do that. She could not return home, not yet anyway. She had to go far away to someplace where nobody knew her and she knew nobody.

That's why she chose to leave in the rain. No sane person would be outside in the cold and wet during the night when they could easily stay in the warmth of his or her own home.

"Are you really leaving?"

Unfortunately she didn't account for the fact that the Hidden Leaf Village was not completely occupied by mentally sound people. "Go home, Kyou."

"No, answer my question. Where are you going?" He was being oddly strict today, and Akina felt her stomach twist in annoyance. If anyone heard them talking, then her whole plan could be blown. Honestly, could that flame-head be any more stupid?

"Which question do you want me to answer?" She still hadn't turned around to look at him, and her feet were slowly sinking beneath the surface of the Earth. She didn't need to see his face to know that she had made him mad. Not that she really cared what he felt. After all, soon she would be gone from this village and away from all the people in it.

"Are you being this difficult on purpose?!" Akina cringed at the shrill sound his voice made.

She spun around smoothly and faced him. "Be quiet, will you? You're going to wake up the whole village."

Kyou's red bangs were pressed flat against his fact by the rain and covered his emerald eyes. His fiery locks looked darker thanks to the downpour, and his clothes were covered in mud. She deduced that he had probably run all the way down here and gotten splashed by puddles numerous times along the way. "Do you think I care if I wake people up?" He asked through gritted teeth. Akina just stared back at him with empty eyes. Those eyes that used to be filled with light and innocent bliss were now endless voids of nothingness. How could this have happened? He knew that she had changed, but he never expected this. He never thought that she could just up and leave like she was doing at that moment. "Why are you doing this, Akina? Don't you know what this will do to everyone?" His voice dropped to a whisper, "Don't you know what this will do to me?"

If Akina had heard him, she didn't show it. She hadn't moved at all. "I killed a man, Kyou. I took a life away that didn't belong to me."

"He attacked you! You had no choice but to defend yourself. It's not your fault."

Akina blink slowly as if his words meant nothing to her. It hurt him to know that they most likely didn't. "I know," she said calmly.

He felt his breath hitch in his throat. She knew? _She knew?!_ Is that all she had to say? "It's not the killing part that bothers me," she paused briefly. In that moment, Kyou saw something flicker across her face, and that was when he knew. There was nothing that he could do to stop her. He saw her sadness and her fear, and even if it was only for a moment, he knew that he would let her pass by him. She had started to feel again, and he knew that he could never allow himself to take that away from her. If she was forced to stay in the Leaf Village, then she would be forced to go back to never feeling anything for the rest of her life. "The problem is…I liked it. I liked feeling control over something for once. For years I have been passive about everything, but when he died I felt so powerful and in control. And now all I want to do is find that feeling again. If I'm not careful I might kill someone again."

"Akina that's-"

She held up a hand to silence him "Horrible and a little irrational, I realize that, and that's precisely why I must go. I'm going to learn to control myself so that nothing like this happens again. With proper training, I know that I can feel powerful again, but not at the cost of someone else's life. I want to find someone who can help me keep myself in check." Kyou was completely silent. What could he say to that?

He looked down and whispered the only thing that he could think of, "Go."

When he looked up, Akina was already gone, and in her place was a tiny blue book. Kyou fell to his knees and wept for his friend.

**Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend  
****Somewhere along in the bitterness  
****And I would have stayed up with you all night  
****Had I known how to save a life**

A year later, Kyou stood in his apartment holding a small, blue book in his hand. The cover was worn and torn, and he had already read it seven times, but he would keep reading it until she returned to him. This was the same book Akina had carried with her to school every day, and it had become his most treasured possession.

He didn't hate Akina for what she had done. He could never in one million years hate anything that she did. One day she would come back, and things could go back to normal. If only he had told her how he felt before she left, then maybe when she came back, things would be better than normal, but he could wait. He had waited for her since the day they met, and he would wait for ever just to tell her four simple words.

"I love you, Akina." He closed his watering eyes and put the book aside. She would surely kill him if he got tear stains on her book.

**Let him know that you know best  
****Cause after all you do know best  
****Try to slip past his defense  
****Without granting innocence  
****Lay down a list of what is wrong  
****The things you've told him all along  
****And pray to God he hears you  
****And pray to God he hears you**

Mitsuki Umisako gazed up at the dark night sky of Konoha for what she was sure would be the very last time. Her green eyes clouded with misery, she adjusted the straps on her bag, swung her long violet hair over her shoulder and let a determined look cross her face.

'No time to turn back,' she thought with a grimace. 'I have to do this…'

She walked toward the gate that would lead her out of Konoha.

'Pity,' she thought, her eyebrows creasing in sorrow. 'It would have been nice to stay here a while longer, but the Akatsuki has made me into a threat to this village…'

"I wonder when they'll all get the letters I left them. I hope they won't think poorly of me, but my hopes are never recognized in the grander scheme of things, are they?" She mused bitterly.

Her feet shaking, she advanced upon the gate, but froze for a mere moment to consider staying.

"No, I can't stay," she whispered, disgusted with herself for even thinking of it. "It would put everyone in danger…" She thought of her new team—Akina Yamoshi, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and…. Her heart ached as she thought of him… Naruto Uzumaki.

"He will surely hate me," she tortured herself with those words. She clenched and unclenched her fists, her logic and heart battling it out inside of her. Then, what felt like a giant wave of ice spreading across her, she felt the demon stirring inside of her. It fed off mixed emotions like this, of course Mitsuki knew that. She inwardly chastised herself for being so foolish.

She calmed herself, and sighed in relief as the dragon, the demon that was the cause of all of this running, all this pain. Her mind was set, no wavering. She would leave, and she would do it _tonight_.

She was halfway underneath the grand gates before she heard hurried footsteps. They were clumsy, alien even, to her, who had been walking so silently. She knew without even having to look behind her who it was that was there.

"Mitsuki-chan, where are you going?" Naruto asked, and she didn't have to see his face to know that he looked hurt and shocked.

"I can't tell you, you may try and find me," she replied with a false air of someone trying to cover her true feelings up.

"The Akatsuki," Naruto deadpanned, and she turned rigid. "The only place you would be afraid of someone finding would be the Akatsuki, right?" as he said this, the volume became louder, and she turned to face him.

His blue eyes bore into her green ones in a way that disarmed her. She felt weak, powerless. She had let this boy into her heart. She had let this boy far too far into her heart.

'But no,' She caught herself thinking. 'I didn't let him in, he _burrowed_ himself in.'

"It'll be dangerous if I stay in Konoha," she said, her voice quaking with fear and indecision. "This way, no one gets hurt."

"No one but _you_!" Naruto argued in an angry tone.

"One life compared to hundreds more is nothing…" She murmured.

"Don't be stupid!" Naruto yelled, and her eyes widened at the emotion in his voice. Usually so well hidden behind his amusing antics and crude jokes, this time she could see clearly the sorrowful boy behind the mask. "It's not fair, as soon as you get close to someone, you run away? Is that it?" he asked, his words sharp.

She sighed in resign, though she would not give up her argument. He was suddenly in front of the gate. She had been talking to a shadow clone.

"Move out of the way," she ordered him in the strongest voice she could muster.

"Not until you agree to stay here." He replied hardly.

"I won't." she said, her eyes defiant. "I will not be selfish and stay here only because I want to. I am not becoming the reason for the slaughter of these villagers."

"So, you think betraying our village makes you a holier power?" he snapped at her.

"Betraying…" she whispered to herself, head dipped low. "I'm sorry, Naruto. Hopefully, you'll forgive me for this someday."

"Forgive you for what--?" Naruto started, but his eyes widened as she began making hand signs.

"Special jutsu: creeping ice vines." She whispered beneath her breath, and vine-like strands of water wrapped around Naruto's legs, freezing him to the spot without a hope of escaping until the sun's heat melted him.

"Please tell me… You'll forgive me…" she said with eyes full of melancholy.

Feeling betrayed, he simply jerked his head away from her, staring into the opposite direction.

Hurt flashed across her face, then, she bounded away, and disappeared from his life.

**Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend  
****Somewhere along in the bitterness  
****And I would have stayed up with you all night  
****Had I known how to save a life**

Three years later, Naruto returned from his training. Familiar faces rushed up to him, yakking away. He grinned, answering them all patiently. He was faster, stronger, wiser…

But he was still eager to trade that all to re-do that night…

As he spotted a familiar head of long purple hair, he ducked out of the crowd, rushing up to her.

"Mitsuki-chan!" he yelled, and the girl turned, surprised. It was her, all right. She had her bright shade of violet hair grown to her waist, though her green eyes stayed the same—secretive, unreadable.

"N-Naruto-kun…" she mumbled, looking down, ashamed. Most people had not been all too friendly to her since they had seen Naruto frozen to the spot the next morning.

They stood in silence for a few, uncomfortable moments, before Naruto grinned widely at her and said:

"I forgive you."

A slow smile spread across her face. Soon, just as Akina Yamoshi had, she would leave for Team Hebi and possibly forget all about this town, but she knew for sure that she would never, ever, forget about this boy.

**As he begins to raise his voice  
****You lower yours and grant him one last choice  
**"**Drive until you lose the road  
****Or break with the ones you've followed"  
****He will do one of two things  
****He will admit to everything  
****Or he'll say he's just not the same  
****And you'll begin to wonder why you came**

The cell was cold to her, but Katon didn't shiver due to the fact that the right side of her face and body were covered in black burning marks from the pervious torture she had endured. She sat with her back against the gray stone wall, her knees to her chest and elbows on her knees. She'd been here for only 4 days – four long, pain filled days – and yet she had already been wishing for death since Orochimaru first activated her mark. That and that guy that followed the snake's every order…. What was his name? Uchiha Sasu-

"Hungry?" A familiar dull voice asked, breaking her train of thought.

The red head looked up slowly, to see, speak of the devil, Uchiha Sasuke himself. He had been assigned to make sure she wouldn't die of starvation or dehydration. She only stared at him with dulled blue eyes as he came into the cell and left water and food, as if she was a puppy or something. Just as he was turning away, she spoke.

"You shouldn't do this."

The Uchiha paused and turned to look down at the girl, who was looking back up with…. Pity?

"Why shouldn't I? If I don't then you'd-"

"That's not what I meant."

The girl looked down to the ground, bangs covering her eyes.

"You shouldn't do this. Work for Orochimaru. Be a Sound Ninja at all. You Shouldn't."

Sasuke's eyes grew hard with defense as he stared down at the red head.

"…."

"Do you even know what he has in store for you?!" Her voice grew loud at the lack of response, and she looked up quickly, eyes almost frantic. "It can happen any day now. Any day he could-"

"I know." He replied, calmly. "I'm fully aware that he wants my body. And I'm perfectly fine with it."

Blue eyes widened in shock, and at once tears filled her eyes with his words.

"Are you out of your mind?!" She cried, making the Uchiha flinched, since he hadn't heard her be so loud before. "He's evil! He harms innocent people for his own benefit! Whatever he's promised you is just a lie! All He wants is you Sharingan! Cant you see?!"

"As your one to talk, Kajiki." Sasuke said in a low almost dangerous tone.

Katon gasped lightly, the tears spilling. The raven turned his back to her.

"You're talking about me being with the 'bad guy', but what about your history with Akatsuki?" He continued. "You're talking about Orochimaru, and yet your loyalty lies with …. That bastard."

Katon looked down. Of course it wouldn't seem fair that she was lecturing him when she was guilty. She didn't know how to properly reply to that, so she just said: "That's different."

The Uchiha Scoffed.

"Yeah, different…" He said sarcastically.

"He saved my _life_." She said, looking at his back. "It was because of Orochimaru that I… That a lot of things happened."

The girl softly touched the side of her face that was decorated with the black marks. More tears started to fall.

"I just don't want… I don't want you… to throw your life away. You and I are different despite our similarities. You lost your family too, I know." – Here he stiffened – "But you still had the life that I always wanted as a kid. Friends… people who loved you … and you left that for this?! To just get used and thrown away?!"

A long silence greeted both of them after that statement. The girl was panting slightly, curse mark still gracing her milky pale skins and two rivers of tears traveling down her face. Sasuke just stood there for a long time, as if soaking in what she had just said. The tension was so tick in the air, that you could slice a knife through it. It was broken as the Uchiha finally responded: "It doesn't matter. I chose my fate long ago."

With that he walked out of the cell. Katon's eyes widened slightly with shock, before she looked down in despair at her failure. She didn't look at him again as he closed the door to her cell and walked out.

**Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend  
****Somewhere along in the bitterness  
****And I would have stayed up with you all night  
****Had I known how to save a life**

A while after their talk, Sasuke sat in his quarters on his bed rethinking about Katon's words. He sighed as he leaned back onto his bed and glared at the ceiling.

'… _And you left that for this?! To just get used and thrown away?!' _

The Uchiha scowled and sat up again. She couldn't get her words – The _prisoner's _words – out of his head. He glared at the floor, trying to make a decision. Within another count of 15 minutes, he got up and grabbed his katana. Maybe he wasn't going to give his life to that snake anyway… There was always other ways to get his revenge. And he was certain that he was stronger than Orochimaru, especially in his weakened state…

_**He says it hard to say good bye  
**__**To all he's known for all his life  
**__**But he doesn't see, and he doesn't feel  
**__**The need to run towards something real  
**__**So you run alone towards something new  
**__**Maybe he'll wake up and find the clue  
**__**But you can't wait 'til it's too late  
**__**But you can't wait 'til it's too late**_

The night air was oddly cool for early August; Himeko Aokawa shivered lightly and held onto the strap of her backpack tighter with one hand, using the other to pull her jacket tighter about her shoulders. The breeze came again, ruffling her black hair and causing another involuntary shiver as she stood at the edge of the clearing, facing the sea of foliage and trees she would soon immerse herself in without looking back.

_Without looking back... _The young girl darted a glance over her shoulder, at the camp her clan had set up a month ago only a short distance from the Hidden Leaf Village. They were a small clan, hardly comparable the prestigious families that hailed from this area, such as the Hyuugas or the Uchihas. But then again, she had thought that was nice. You felt rather close to everyone, though obviously some more than others... Himeko quickly flicked her gaze back to the forest in front of her. She wouldn't loose her resolve. Not again. Tonight was the night she was walking away. Tired of following along like an obedient puppy on a lead... tired of saying _"yes"_ when her gut reaction was to scream **"no"**. She tilted her head back, looking at the line the trees created against the night sky; why did it look so much like an insurmountable wall?

"You're being stupid again..." She mumbled softly, voice sounding distant to her own ears. Chewing on her lip, the small girl took one step forward (one step _away_). That wasn't so hard... slowly she took another, and another, and another... soon she was striding purposefully between the two tree-trunks that had formed part of that previously intimidating wall. All of a sudden, it struck her odd, to be doing this walk alone. Her eyes glanced to her right, the place where a dark haired boy a little older than herself would normally be carefully keeping in step with her, hands in pockets and darting covert looks at her when he thought she wasn't looking.

_Taka-nii..._ She hadn't wanted to start thinking about him. Yet she always did. Funny, how that happened... her steps faltered slightly and she ended up stumbling over a tree root, catching herself at the last minute. Himeko cursed softly, nails scratching over the rough bark as her hands balled into frustrated fists, determined not to look over her shoulder again. He didn't want to go. Too damn passive, too damn _nice_, too... too...

She sniffed slightly. Why was she crying?

_Damn, damn, damn... _She started walking again slowly, wiping her eyes furiously with the back of her hand. What did it matter anymore? He'd probably hate her now, and she'd probably never see him again, so really, what the hell did it matter? Why should she care if he'd think poorly of her, and why should she bother wondering why he was the only one she was really worried about having hate her? She almost wanted to laugh. Here she was, eleven-years-old, walking away from her family, her _home (_of sorts), ready to fend for herself in the big scary world and yet she was dithering around, worrying what a boy would think of her. It was ridiculous. It was hilarious. And if she wasn't so busy crying, she'd be laughing until her stomach hurt.

_God almighty, what's wrong with me?_ Swallowing around her tight throat, Himeko resumed her trek, silent excusing the odd hiccupping breath, biting on the tender inside of her lower lip. This wasn't so bad. She was good at lying to herself, you see. As long as she could do that, she'd be fine, just fine. The straps of her bag cut into her palms from the tight grip she kept on them, and Himeko did her best to focus on only that, the slight dull pain, to keep any other unwanted thoughts at bay. Put one foot in front of the other until you reach the edge of the woods... then carry on. It'd be easy from then on, every step wouldn't feel like wading through tar and when it was light out and you were miles away, with little chance of being found anytime soon, you could stop and rest.

_Not think. Oh no, not thinking, because thinking hurts... thinking makes you look at memories and wonder if you're making a mistake, thinking will bring you back here with your tail between your legs like a fu--_

A twig snapped somewhere behind her, bringing that train of thought and her walking to an abrupt standstill, stomach twisting suddenly and almost painfully.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" The voice was female, firm and cool.

Himeko didn't need to turn around to know tonight had just become a lot harder.

**Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend  
****Somewhere along in the bitterness  
****And I would have stayed up with you all night  
****Had I known how to save a life**

It was odd to think, it had only been a month. It felt a lot longer since Mariko had pulled herself back to camp, bleeding profusely from wounds that had turned out to be fairly superficial, spinning a tale of how Himeko had attacked her and promptly turned tail and ran away, declaring how much she hated them all. Not that Taka believed it for a second - with or without the note that had been tucked into his shirt collar (really, how had she managed that?) It really only said what he'd known for a good while now, that she'd needed to get out. He really couldn't fully understand her reasoning... but he wasn't going to question or resent her for it. Even if he did miss her. Quite a lot.

The wording of the note, on the other hand, bothered him quite a bit. It was as if they'd never see each other again. In the privacy of his own room (well, tent really) he pulled out the small, slightly sloppily folded piece of paper and sat on his bed, reading over the words he had by now committed to memory. There really was a horrid tone of finality to it... heck, she'd even ended it with, _"Don't bother looking for me, if you'd even want to." _She was so stubborn. It stung a little, though it seemed to imply less that she didn't want to see him; more-so, she thought _he_ wouldn't want to see _her_.

The words also brought back some fond memories, as inappropriate as it might have seemed. When they were only a little younger, hide-and-seek had been a favourite pastime, when training was deemed too boring and Mariko wasn't around to scold them. Whenever it was her turn to hide she'd turn to him, dark eyes bright and lively, cheeks lightly flushed and a large grin on her lips.

_"Don't even bother looking, Taka-nii, 'cause there's no way you'll find me!" _Before she'd take off running into the trees, long hair fanning behind her being the last thing he'd see as he covered his eyes and began to count. Always a challenge... when he eventually did find her, pouting unhappily while a grin lighted his own features.

_"You're always in the last place I look." _She's blink up at him for a moment before looking away, that flush from earlier back in her cheeks, staining them pink, her tone almost sulky as she replied.

_"Of course I'm in the last place you look. Why the heck would you keep looking once you've found me? Idiot..." _Then she'd pout even more as his grin only widened.

Pulling himself back from that memory, he found himself wondering if her letter was like back then - a challenge. Maybe she _wanted _to be found. Folding and tucking the note carefully under his pillow, Taka contemplated this.

If that was the case, then he'd have to start looking. Regardless of how long it took.

**How to save a life**

They were all so different, and yet their stories are one in the same. All their tales have:

**How to save a life**

A boy who cares and a girl who thinks she has all the answers…

**Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend  
****Somewhere along in the bitterness  
****And I would have stayed up with you all night  
****Had I known how to save a life**

The stubbornness that drives them apart…

**Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend  
****Somewhere along in the bitterness  
****And I would have stayed up with you all night  
****Had I known how to save a life  
****How to save a life**

And the love that will keep them together.

* * *

Sorry for the cheesey ending, it just begged to be added in and I pitied it which is how it snuck its way into the oneshot. I had so much fun with this project and I think that the result is awesome~! I love seeing the different syles of writing which was one of my goals when I came up with the idea. I encourage other people to do projects like this (get other authors together and each of you write a short part of a story) because it's not only easier on everyone writing because they don't have to do so much, but also because you can see that no two authors' styles are exactly alike. Please tell me what you think~!


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